Your world was as wide as the palms of your hands,
and the souls of your feet.
Two things that are your world.
You trained past bruises and pain,
Refused defeat.
Mastering bars and beams,
Floors and other teams
You would bend and you would twist
because someone said that’s the way it’s done best.
With dreams as big as your leaps and bound.
Hopes and prayers to never back down.
Your smile and name caught the nations attention.
The name etched in stone
Forever to remain
Gabrielle Douglas
I’m an Artistic Gymnast.
It’s the way the music
Moves me.
First I hear it.
Then
I feel it.
The chords and melody,
Caress my soul.
Reminding me
Of
My heritage.
Allowing my body
To dance,
To tumble,
Like my ancestors
Once did
Under the wild
African Moon.
And
When I finish
I feel them smile
Down
On
Me
I’m not sure how it happened
I don’t think
We’ll ever know.
This life we live
Will take us far.
God holds my hand
Tells me do not fear
For the Bible says it
365 times,
1 for every day of the year.
My routine was spot on.
Some say flawless.
A hard life’s work- flipping and tumbling through the air.
Sweating and competing my way into history books.
Doing what I love.
Overcoming stereotypes.
Putting my family in a bind.
Moving a thousand miles away from home,
trying to make MY dreams come true.
I brought home two gold medals,
some didn’t see it that way.
My people say I put them to shame,
they look the other way.
They say my hair wasn’t up to par.
It wasn’t up to par for whom?
I lit the Olympic Flame.
For you and for me.
To guide the next black girl
Into her dreams
So, before you cast judgement
On me and my hair
Let’s see you do half
Of what I just did
Out there.
How many can say these powerful words?
I raised an Olympian.
I see her sore,
Weak,
Tired.
Doing the same death defying move,
Only to have to do it
Again and Again.
Then one day
She outgrows her hometown
Seeing her go.
Letting her be someone else’s
Daughter,
Sister,
Friend.
Missing out on two years
Of goodnight hugs and kisses.
Two years of her life.
Not getting to see her grow
Into a young woman
Into who she is today.
Then I have to sit and wonder…
Is someone else holding her
While she’s sad,
homesick,
ready to give up?
Do they tell her
It’s going to be
okay?
Do they remind her to persevere?
To look at every she’s given up
To get as far as she has.
Because that’s what I would do.
The baby of our family
left us at 14.
To make her dreams come true,
Because no one else could,
But her.
That’s what it takes to raise an Olympian,
That and a hell of a lot more.
Three billion eyes all on
YOU.
Waiting to judge Your every move.
In a moment like this
All you can do is
Feel…
Feel
Adrenaline pump through your veins,
Tension in the air,
The Familiar vinyl mat beneath your feet,
You know is blue,
The comfort it brings you,
The butterflies you always get,
Stickiness from the MAC lip gloss
Your wear during every meet.
Finally
You hear the music
Your heart skips a beat
Total
Silence
You Feel
The music move your soul
It reminds you, why you do, what you do.
And the audience roar like
They always do.
And
You can’t do anything
But
FEEL
Everything changes.
Nothing will the be the same.
Bronze.
Silver.
Gold.
Steps in my life.
I moved up in
The world.
As well as gymnastics.
Sometimes I crave
To be normal,
To have a job,
Read books,
Keep up with television shows,
To be me.
Then I realize
What I do now,
Is.
Me.
They say America’s Sweetheart,
but I know the real you.
Striving to be normal, but let’s face it,
that’ll never come true.
Don’t believe that, you’ve worked so hard,
and endured so much.
Look how far you’ve come,
you just can’t give it all up!
Gabby, you’ve stumbled and you’ve fell.
You have bled and you have broken.
Let’s not forget the harsh words and ridicule.
That’s not true; you have preserved and carried on.
My! Look how you’ve healed,
Don’t sweat those people, they’re just there to bring you down.
Look at those blisters and calluses!
Who would want to hold hands with you?
Those are battle scars, to remind you how far you’ve come.
Who cares about boys, when you have gold medals to win?
Wouldn’t you love to eat whatever you wanted?
There’s always a price to pay, who cares it’s bad for you anyway?
So?
Gabby!
Decide?!
Do you stay or do you go…
In life we are dealt
Good and Bad cards,
but just like any good card player
you don’t give up after one bad hand.
You strive,
You preserver,
And
Smile through every
drop,
fall,
bad tumble pass,
loss.
These make you a gymnast.
They make you
Who you are
Once in a life time…
You’ll never know
How it happened.
Mama always told
Me
To follow my
Dreams!
Everyone told us
We were crazy for
Believing
I would go this far
Never would we
Believe
I could make this
Dream
My
Reality.
To fulfill
My dreams
I would move
A thousand miles
Away.
I would leave behind my friends and family.
The Partons,
An all
White
Host family
Would take me in.
I never felt unwelcomed
Or
Out of place
I went from the baby of
My family
To
The big sister
Of theirs.
To be ALL
I COULD BE.
To make
My
Dreams
Come true!
I did all
Of this
By
Age 14.
My first cartwheel…
I was scared,
but I trusted my hands would catch me.
Upside down
for a split second.
Until
My feet collided
with Earth
Again.
I could feel
my hair in my face,
Giddiness
in my voice,
Excitement
in my eyes.
I wanted to do it
Again.
PenTherapy 